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Maybelline Bennett ([info]whycantyoubetru) wrote in [info]inpoormerit,
@ 2010-03-08 20:59:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:belle, belle and cordelia, cordelia

Comfort Food
WHO: Belle and Delia
WHERE: Diner at the center of town
WHEN: Around 1pm

Luckily, the food was pretty much gone by the time Belle had shown up. That saved her some clean up. So she'd rummaged through the diner's kitchen and came up with the fixings for fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. She wasn't certain what to make for dessert, maybe she'd just whip up a batch of sugar cookies. Something light after the heavy food.

Mercifully, her mp3 player had made the trip with her, along with the little speaker charger thingy for it. She had it turned up quite a bit as she cooked, letting the familiar comforting music take away some of her stress.

Right now, it was playing the Beatles Dear Prudence, a song she knew all too well. As she mixed up the batter for the chicken, she was singing along, her powerful voice easy to hear over the John Lennon's.

"Dear Prudence open up your eyes
Dear Prudence see the sunny skies
The wind is low the birds will sing
That you are part of everything
Dear Prudence won't you open up your eyes?"


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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 04:41 am UTC (link)
Cooper was a good man. He'd never do anything Grace's stepfather had done. In ten years of marriage, sober, drunk or pushed to his limit; he'd barely raised his voice to Belle, let alone his hand.

"You just ain't found the right one yet," she told Grace. "You'll know him when you find 'em. And you're still young. Enjoy it." She frowned when the girl talked about her family missing her. "I don't know about me and Cooper. I ain't never met any of his family and he don't talk about them. Mine's used to not hearing from us for months." She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what to tell you they're thinking. Hopefully, they're praying hard and not giving up on you. Right?"

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 05:03 am UTC (link)
Delia began to place peeled potatoes on the counter next to her. She wasn't sure of how many they needed, but if Belle was planning on making food for the whole town, she was pretty sure they'd need a bunch. Not that she knew how many people were here, let alone how many would come. Still, it was better to have more than less. She wasn't quite sure that she agreed with Belle's analysis, but she didn't dispute the claim. Belle could be right; Delia jsut didn't think that it was terribly likely. Besides, what self-respecting man would want a broken girl like her?

"I think I'd enjoy it more if we weren't stuck here," she returned, the slightest hint of bitterness in her voice. "At the very least, we have to be rescued by May. My sister's graduating high school and it would kill her if I wasn't there. They wouldn't give up on me in a million years, but I still don't want to let them down. I got a weird note from that mysterious commissioner person that said that our families were "all taken care of," but of course he or she didn't tell me how or why." She shuddered slightly. "Stupid message box gives me the creeps."

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 05:22 am UTC (link)
Belle had a rough idea of how many prisoners, thanks to the creepy bastard's reply to her comment. Now how many would take her invitation and show up were another story entirely.

"Honey, we'd all enjoy it more if we weren't stuck here," she pointed out. "But we gotta stick together and make due until we can." As for being freed by May, well, there was no telling how long they'd be here. "Grace darlin', no matter what happens, you ain't lettin' nobody down because you're here. This ain't your fault." None of it was, but she could tell the girl was blaming herself somehow. Poor thing.

Her face darkened about the commissioner commenting. "Yeah, he thanked me for being community minded. Luckily for him, my momma and granny raised me to be a lady, or else I'd have given him a piece of my mind. He don't know a thing about me and I sure as hell ain't doin' this because of his plans."

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 05:33 am UTC (link)
Delia had a knack for blaming herself for things that weren't her fault, and this was certainly no exception, despite how ridiculous it was for her to think she could've somehow resisted capture. She had no idea why she'd been put here and even less of an idea how to get away, but in the meantime she would quietly take far too much responsibility and remain silently jealous of Belle and Cooper. Sure, it was a traumatizing experience for both of them, but at the very least they had each other.

She nodded as Belle spoke of the commissioner and added, "He told me to have a nice day when I asked him what he was doing about our families. I would've argued, but I was too scared. I don't want to get anyone else in trouble because I complained too much. That's the last thing I want to happen." There was nothing like a threat to someone else's health to make Delia follow orders. Not that Delia would resist following orders very much to begin with. "What do you think he meant about the unfriendly animals? I haven't been to look at the forest, but I'm not sure how different things could be at night as opposed to the daytime." The thought of marauding animals were among the least of Delia's worries, but she was still curious as to how things could be so much more dangerous at night. Not that she was about to head to the forest to find out.

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 04:49 pm UTC (link)
Belle'd be inclined to agree with that sentiment. If she didn't have Cooper here, she'd be a mess. Maybe their captors had some compassion, since they'd taken them together. God was surely looking out for them there, she had no doubt about that.

"He'd probably just have erased the comments," Belle pointed out. "That's what he said he'd do with insults and threats. But it prolly wouldn't have done no good anyway. They're set on makin' us feel as isolated as possible. Which is why we gotta stick together, right? We ain't alone, darlin'. We have each other until we figure a way outta this."

Belle shrugged. "Probably just big jungle cats or somethin' like that. Every forest has some kinda dangerous critter that lurks at night. I don't know myself, but Cooper could prolly tell ya'. He's been all over the world and he's right at home in the wilds." She smiled softly to herself. Cooper was still a pretty wild animal himself, which was one of the things she loved about him.

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 05:07 pm UTC (link)
Delia nodded. "That's true." Leave it to her to blow everything out of proportion. Then again, waking up in a completely different place with almost no information about how to proceed was kind of a difficult situation to blow out of proportion. The hours of tropical sunlight and soft shore breeze had managed to calm her down ever so slightly, though. She smiled the tiniest bit at Belle's idea that they stick together. It was always good advice in an emergency situation. "And yes. I'm all for sticking together. It seems like the best way to deal with this for now."

She picked up some of the potato peels and hunted around for a wastebasket to put them in so the sink wouldn't get too full. "A woodsman, huh? That'll be useful." Delia had never known much about woodland survival. Although the area she'd grown up in was far from urban, like Boston was, she was always too afraid of the dark woods to venture out into them at night.

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 05:40 pm UTC (link)
The island sorta reminded Belle of some the places she'd been in Mexico. Quiet and peaceful, far from the loud bustle of the city. If she hadn't been a prisoner here, she'd probably be enjoying their surroundings more.

Belle chuckled at her description. "Woodsman ain't really the best description," she admitted. "Cooper's from Australia, and grew up in the bush. When he started traveling the world, he gravitated more to rural and wilderness areas. He's still like that, we lived in a little town called Blackwater. You could see the desert from our bedroom window. Cooper still goes walkabout as he calls it, but he always comes back." She shrugged. "It's his nature. That's why he ain't here now. He'd be driving me crazy pacing if he didn't get to explore first."

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 05:57 pm UTC (link)
The climate was more tropical than home, but part of her was glad to be back in the warm weather. The seemingly constant coldness of Boston would run her down quickly, especially in the wintertime. But, like Belle, she thought the island was far from the "paradise" the commissioner had described it as in his message. She'd trade a real paradise in a heartbeat if it meant she could go home.

"An explorer! Sounds lovely. And dangerous." Delia shuddered ever so slightly. "I'm a fraidy-cat when it comes to exploring. I much prefer to stay in my ivory tower with my books, where it's safe." Books had long been Delia's last refuge, so it was no surprise that she still felt safest when she was reading them.

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 06:15 pm UTC (link)
One of the reasons Belle had chosen the desert. She couldn't abide cold weather.

"Yeah, well, he knows what he's doing," Belle agreed. "He's always managed to keep both of us safe." She smiled softly at the description, then shook her head. "If you're waitin' for your dream prince to climb that tower and rescue you, honey, you might be waitin' forever. Best to decide what you want in your man, then go find yourself one." Belle herself hadn't had to do such a thing, Cooper had pursued her and rather ardently at that. "Oh at least come down outta the tower so he can find you." She gave her a knowing smile and went back to fussing with the batter.

"I was thinkin' of something simple for dessert. Maybe some cookies. What you think, darlin'?"

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 06:41 pm UTC (link)
"I'm not sure I'd mind waiting forever." Delia said quietly. She'd thought about the prospect of spinsterhood rather a lot, and had decided that it wouldn't be so bad. She's have to sacrifice the desire to have children of her own someday, but Delia had convinced herself (falsely, though she would never admit it) that she would be a terrible mother anyway. Too many terrible things had come on the heels of men, and Delia had never been able to picture herself with one. Or with a woman for that matter; that was a thought that had just never occurred to her.

"Cookies sound like a wonderful idea," Delia enthused, looking around. "I wonder if there are any chocolate chips..." She didn't abandon her potato peeling, but as soon as she was done she would certainly have to root through the pantry. Chocolate chip cookies were the best kind of comfort food, though she wasn't used to having a lot of sugar. Plus, they reminded her of her aunt Lily, who made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 07:57 pm UTC (link)
Belle held her tongue, deciding not pushing the shy little gal was the best idea. She went to school at a big old university and she was young. Which gave her plenty of time to meet a man who'd treat her good.

"I think I saw some," she agreed. "So we can make a few dozen. Give people somethin' to take back to their rooms tonight." Belle smiled at her. "You better be careful, honey. You're too good at helpin' in the kitchen, I might have to keep you for helping me make supper everyday."

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 08:26 pm UTC (link)
Delia smiled back, happy that she was doing a good job. "I'm just glad to be useful," she said earnestly. "I don't mind cooking. People gotta eat, right?" And it was safe here with Belle, or it least it seemed that way. And safety was her first priority now. "And feeding people dinner is a great idea. Depending on how many people come tonight, maybe we can figure out why we're here."

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 09:00 pm UTC (link)
"Yeah, that's what I was thinkin'," she agreed. "And the more we band together, the safer we'll all be." Belle wasn't sure about the last one, but in the end, it certainly couldn't hurt to have everybody get together as much as possible.

She grinned as the song flipped over from Penny Lane which she hadn't paid much attention to, to the jazzy, upbeat intro to Lady Madonna. Another good song.

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 09:18 pm UTC (link)
"I certainly hope so." Having peeled all the potatoes she could, she moved the peels to the wastebasket and began chopping, moving unconsciously to the beat of the Beatles.

"Did you study voice when you were in school?" Delia asked curiously. She'd never had any formal voice training until she was sixteen, but since then she'd enjoyed learning Bach and Handel, and Aunt Lily had insisted that she practice.

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 09:24 pm UTC (link)
Belle had started dipping the chicken pieces in the batter and frying them. "Nah, never really did anythin' formal," she admitted. "Sang in the church choir growin' up, but other than that, never really needed any training."

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 09:46 pm UTC (link)
"That's really amazing," Delia said sincerely. "You really do have a gift. Does Cooper sing too?" Delia had caught on quickly that her new friend liked to talk about her husband, which made Delia curious to meet him. So far everyone she'd met on this island was nice enough, and the way Belle talked about Coooper, her husband probably wasn't an exception. Probably.

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 10:02 pm UTC (link)
Belle just loved to talk, especially when she cooked. It had always been a very social activity when she was growing. Making supper was a good time for the womenfolk to chatter and connect. The fact she loved her husband so much was the reason she talked about him so much.

"He can, but he don't much," she admitted. "He'd rather listen to me." Which were the truth. That was how she'd caught his eyes in the first place. The idea anybody could think of him as anything but the sweet man he was never occurred to her.

"What about you, hon? You sing?"

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 10:18 pm UTC (link)
"I can't say I blame him," Delia said. "He sounds real nice." She'd have to be the judge of that herself when she met him, though. Delia lowered her head a little in response to the question. "Just a little," she responded meekly. "My aunt Lily insisted that I take voice lessons for a couple of years. It was fun and I learned a lot."

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 10:26 pm UTC (link)
"He's the sweetest man who ever lived," Belle said with absolute confidence. "I'm real lucky."

Voice lessons? Belle grinned and nodded towards the mp3 player. "Well, pick something you like to sing to then. Got all sorts of old blues and jazz songs on there. Beatles, Beach Boys, some gospel, little bit of country. I'd love to hear you sing."

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 10:50 pm UTC (link)
Delia would've protested, but it was a reasonable request and she didn't like to say no to people. Personally she didn't think her voice was anything special, but her mother had always taught her not to tell other people what to think, so she kept her mouth shut and did as she was told. Flipping through the MP3 player, her face lit up when she found Ella Fitzgerald. Selecting "Someone to Watch Over Me," she let Ella croon the opening verse and joined in in her sweet mezzo-soprano on the refrain , matching Ella's every inflection.

"There's a somebody I'm longing to see
I hope that he turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me,
I'm I a little lamb who's lost in the wood,
I know I could always be good
To one who'll watch over me."

It was interesting - for all her patent lack of interest in boys, she sure sang about them a lot, and her expression was good enough that that lack of interest was anything but apparent.

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-10 11:15 pm UTC (link)
Oh Ella Fitzgerald. Fine choice. Belle was damned impressed by the girl. She had some pipes on her.

And she couldn't help but join in, careful not to overpower Grace.

"Although he may not be the man some
Girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key."

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Reposted to fix HTML fail
[info]stillhealing
2010-03-10 11:27 pm UTC (link)
Delia smiled brightly when Belle joined in and immediately let her (and Ella) take lead, adding a harmony of her own that she made up on the spot, blending with both of them nicely.

"Won't you tell him please to put on some speed,
Follow my lead, oh how I need
Someone to watch over me."

As the song ended she giggled softly. "Gotta love Ella Fitzgerald," she remarked. "She always makes me feel good."

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l
[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-11 12:28 am UTC (link)
"Won't you tell him please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me.

Someone to watch over me."

Belle did her best not to drown out Ella and Grace. The girl had fine taste in music, that was for sure. "Good music does that," she agreed as she continued feeding batter dipped chicken into the fryer. "Why don't you get started on those cookies while I get the veggies on to boil?"

It wouldn't take them long at all to have supper ready at this rate.

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-11 12:49 am UTC (link)
"Okay." Delia found enough chocolate chips and other ingredients when she'd searched long enough and was able to whip up a batch of cookies without much trouble. "This is fun." She told Belle as she mixed up the cookie batter. "I'm glad you invited me to help make supper. It's making this whole experience seem a little more bearable."

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-11 01:07 am UTC (link)
"It is fun," she agreed as she started adding onions to the collared greens she was making. Weren't a proper chicken dinner without greens. "I'm glad I did too, hon," she said. "Not only have ya' been a lot of help, you're a nice girl to hang out with." Belle wished they were back in Blackwater. There were some nice boys back there who she'd like to introduce Grace to.

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-11 01:29 am UTC (link)
"You're fun to hang out with too, Belle." Delia said, smiling. "I'm so glad we're not on this island all alone." Delia began to grease cookie sheets and spoon out batter. She had completely guessed for all the proportions, but she'd made chocolate chip cookies enough times to be confident that they'd turn out okay. "And maybe we'll make more new friends at dinner tonight." She wasn't quite as concerned with that, though. Now that she had one person she knew, she was content.

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[info]whycantyoubetru
2010-03-11 01:37 am UTC (link)
"Thanks, darlin'," Belle said. As far as she was concerned, Grace had two friends, because Cooper would just adore the sweet little gal. It was one of the many reasons she was sad she could have never give him children. Cooper would have been a great daddy, he was set on taking care of everybody he ran across.

"Here's hopin'," she agreed. "Now find us another song to sing to!" Belle rarely encountered people who would sing with her and she was damned bound and determined to enjoy it.

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[info]stillhealing
2010-03-11 01:48 am UTC (link)
Dalia laughed lightly. She liked singing with Belle too, and she didn't mind playing second fiddle at all. In fact, she liked making up harmonies. "More Ella?" She asked, fiddling with the MP3 player. She flipped through the songs and paused on the bluesy piano intro of "Stormy Weather."

"Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky" she crooned, grinning at Belle. "Stormy weather since my man and I ain't together, keeps raining all the time."

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